| Posted: 18 May 2010 23:55 |
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Copyright is the difference. You are not copying the comic when you read it in the bookstore. You are when you scan it and distribute it via a website. A good analogy might be like if those people going to Borders took the book off the shelf, went to a copy machine and copied the book, and took that home and didn't buy the original.
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| Posted: 19 May 2010 18:51 |
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It's not the same, but for what it's worth here is a site that offers free UK Golden Age Comics......
http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/
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| Posted: 30 May 2010 23:50 |
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http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/05/u-s-government-sues- ...
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The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Gregory Steven Hart, who operated HTMLcomics and five similar pirate websites.
The complaint asks for a federal judge to order Hart to forfeit the domain names of the sites -- among them, HTMLcomics.com, ComicBooksFree.com and PlayboyMonthly.com -- which the government says were used to commit criminal copyright infringement.
HTMLcomics hosted more than 100,000 copyrighted titles, from Batman and The Amazing Spider-Man to Hellboy and Dilbert. Hart had asserted that because the comics couldn't be downloaded, the website was legal and "like a lending library." He reportedly told his attorney the site received up to 500,000 hits a day.
In April the FBI searched Hart's home in Tampa, Florida, seizing records, hard drives, computers and DVDs containing copyrighted images. The raid followed an investigation spurred by a consortium of publishers and copyright owners, including Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, Bongo Comics, Archie Comics, Conan Properties International, Mirage Studios and United Media.
Hart claimed as recently as December that he had spoken with Marvel representatives, and "all is good." "Our approach is not distribution," he wrote on a comics forum, "hence the reason we've been around for over a year, and will be around for a long time to come. Google is using our site as a reference of how to create an online library, and not violate copyright laws."
However, according to the lawsuit, Marvel and other companies sent letters to Hart demanding that he remove their publications from the site. Curiously, Hart reportedly said that if no publisher agreed to a revenue-sharing arrangement, he would continue to operate the site without charging users.
At the time of the HTMLcomics shutdown, Hart had more than 6 million pages from some 5,700 separate series.
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| Posted: 31 May 2010 02:30 |
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The comments at that site are entertaining.
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| Posted: 31 May 2010 22:20 |
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I do agree with sam on this simply because the website was set up to prevent image copying. im not gonna lie, i tried. I tried to get a bunch of the covers off the site. It wouldn't let me save them or print them. I even tried screencapping and the paste always came up black. So, i really don't see it as being any different than sitting in a bookstore. I do agree. If it's strictly set up to just read them, whats the big deal?
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| Posted: 01 Jun 2010 19:23 |
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Yeah you know I agree, but I guess what people are saying is it's illegal for him to post it all online for people to read. I guess that's why the FBI is after him, and not all of the people who went to the site to read them for free.
So I guess it's illegal to make these comics available for others to read without the permission from the comic companies.
If that's the case, then what about comics & magazines (for example) in a barbar shop?
You can go to a doctors office, dentist, pretty much ANY waiting room and find material that the business subscribed too and read them for free.
Can they get in truoble also!?!?!??!
They don't allow you to take the comics / magazines home, but you can go there and read them all you want.
Isn't that kinda the same as this guy who got into trouble with the FBI? I mean not exactly, but in a way the idea is kinda the same.
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| Posted: 01 Jun 2010 20:23 |
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I wish I took advantage of the site when it was up! Seems like I missed out. If you cant print or copy anything I don't see what the problem is. With newer stuff I can see it taking money away from the comic companies but anything a year or older I don't see it. That stuff should be ok.
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| Posted: 01 Jun 2010 21:36 |
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I think it still comes down to Copyright. He didn't have the Right to Copy it. The Barber isn't copying it when the kids read it or the Dentist. But Hart was by placing it on his website. A digital copy was made. It doesn't matter that we could not copy it (well, it does. It would be worse if we could).
To use the library analogy: The libraries buy their books and loan them out to be read. The way this guy had it set up, it would be like getting illegal copies of the books made for loan. I seriously doubt if he owned all those books and it was gathered from bit torrent sites and other owners.
Also, there was the claim that he offered to share any revenue with the companies and, if they turned him down, he'd still make it free. This flies in the face of his idea of a free library. That's like me stealing your car for free taxi rides and, if you want to go in business with me, we'll share. If not, the rides are still free. Your car but you have limited say in what I do with it.
I'm giving you the legal approach to how to look at this. Really, I like the idea of being able to see the old out of print works. But putting new books on the site was directly competing with the company's new books and trades and that was a HUGE warning light. Even the folks behind the movie THE HURT LOCKER just announced they are going after bit torrent IP addresses to illegal downloads.
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| Posted: 02 Jun 2010 01:08 |
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I totally agree with the fact that is wrong because it's illegal. I also totally understand the whole permission issue. When my band recorded our second album, someone we worked in the studio with burned an unmixed copy and I found the entire album on soulseek and six torrent sites before it was even done and distributed. Yeah, it burned my ass but not because of money or anything like that. I was mad because they did it behind our backs. so on that point, I can totally agree. The thing that suprised me tho was it didn't effect the sales at all because a lot of people are physical collectors. It's the same with comics. As long as there is a demand for a Physical copy by collectors, The companies will make their money. I do agree that it was a little messed up that he was scanning current issues and posting them. Point made there. But the out of print stuff I really don't see why they throw such a fit. Personally i feel that If they aren't re-printing the stuff for physical sales, let people read em. Why not? BUT.... A brick wall argument for sure i suppose. piracy is piracy and it is illegal.
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| Posted: 02 Jun 2010 02:13 |
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Yup, I agree. And yet, if I waited for Marvel to finish reprinting the Golden Age Cap books, I think I'm going to be dead and buried. The current rate is 4 issues per Masterworks every 2 years. And we have about 56 issues left, maybe? Plus the other appearances in the other books. I'll still buy it when it comes out but I've had to go to digital since the original books are just too much to buy.
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